Tarot cards are used throughout much of Europe to play Tarot card games. In English-speaking countries, where the games are largely unknown, Tarot cards came to be utilized primarily for divinatory purposes.

Divinatory and occult meanings

In divination, the suit of wands represents the element of fire and gives information relating to the traits of the fire element in astrology. Additionally it represents the peasant or farmer class of feudal society (the Latin suit is commonly called Staves or Rods), and relates to simplicity and to nature, as well as to poverty and submission.

Rod cell

Rod cells, or rods, are photoreceptor cells in the retina of the eye that can function in less intense light than the other type of visual photoreceptor, cone cells. Rods are concentrated at the outer edges of the retina and are used in peripheral vision. On average, there are approximately 90 million rod cells in the human retina. More sensitive than cone cells, rod cells are almost entirely responsible for night vision. However, because they have only one type of light-sensitive pigment, rather than the three types that human cone cells have, rods have little, if any, role in color vision (which is why colors are much less apparent in darkness).

Structure

Rods are a little longer and leaner than cones but have the same structural basis. The opsin or pigment is on the outer side, lying on the Retinal pigment epithelium, completing the cell's homeostasis. This epithelium end contains many stacked disks. Rods have a high area for visual pigment and thus substantial efficiency of light absorption.